“Double-tapping” is a phrase used to describe the liking of photos on Instagram, as a business you’d want to get as many double-taps as you can, but how? Should you invest in buying followers or start an excavation project in search of the genie lamp your parents buried in the backyard? Before breaking out the […]

Recent research by Burning Glass revealed that nearly 8 in 10 middle-skill jobs now require digital proficiency – and jobs that require digital skills pay an average of 18% more than those that don’t. Essentially, the more literate you are digitally, the more money you will make. This means paying extra attention in class (instead […]

What do circuses, the Internet and Harry Potter fans have in common? They are all communities that house numerous individuals sharing experiences and showing support on a common interest that defies geographical limitations. The 21st Century is an age where information reaches thousands in mere seconds, and what that can do for your business is […]

According to a Research and Markets report, client virtualization is expected to drive continual growth in the IT sector. Long gone are the days of tedious one-on-one interaction between servers and systems, it is now time to embrace the automated and virtualized alternative. Mainly, there are three options and here they are: Presentation virtualization As […]

500+ LinkedIn connections can seem like a lofty goal. You have a business to run, and probably don’t have much time to dedicate to the platform. However, carving out the time to grow your LinkedIn network can prove invaluable as it will provide social proof to yourself or organization and presents the opportunity to connect […]

Reputation and image management has come a long way from being the vapid process it was decades ago. It is now vital to those wishing to find wealth, trustworthiness and entrepreneurial longevity, and nowhere is this more important than on the Internet. With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you establish […]

Business Intelligence (BI) software has helped thousands of small and medium-sized businesses around the globe increase profits and improve efficiency. If you think your business will enjoy similar success by simply installing some software you are sorely mistaken. You must plan BI implementation wisely in order to see the results you want. Here are a […]

Symantec revealed the existence of a bug in their products. The problem is that updated files released and time stamped after 11:59 PM on 12/31/2009 are treated  as out of date by the endpoint security product. Symantec has a workaround, but weren’t we supposed to have learned our lesson ten years ago?  This bug is not putting a large number of customers at risk today.  Symantec is simply dating all new definition files 12/31/2009 and giving them new version numbers so users stay up to date. Symantec says they are working on a permanent solution to the problem. Amazing as it is, others are also suddenly finding year 2010 bugs in their software.  Both SpamAssassin and Windows Mobile cell phones are having issues with messages being suddenly marked as from the future — it is likely they are not the only ones. I guess we did not learn our lessons in Y2K!

If you are not aware. Starting on January 11, 2010, Microsoft will be prohibited from selling one of their flagship office productivity products in the United States. This restriction will also spill over the border to the Canadian market where it appears Microsoft can continue to sell Microsoft Word as we know it. The Canadian market will benefit from the new versions which come out of this new restriction in the US. Microsoft Word is currently the leading office productivity suite in use today throughout the business community. i4i a software firm located in Toronto was successful in a recent lawsuit against the Redmond software giant claiming Microsoft infringed on their software patents in their Microsoft Word 2007 product. i4i claimed, and US courts agreed, that Microsoft infringed on its XML software product which Microsoft currently incorporates in their .docx document format which first appeared in Word 2007.  First, those businesses who have purchased Office 2007 or Word 2007 can continue to use the Microsoft Office product. The fine folks at Microsoft have committed to continue the support all versions of Word including 2007. Microsoft has already promised a fix which will be compliant with the court ruling against them. Businesses in the USA and Canada have nothing to worry about and should continue to use Word. Microsoft will have a revised version of Word for sale very soon. No release date has been announced by Microsoft. Once again, this ruling appears to have no direct impact on established users of the products. I expect Microsoft will license the technology or develop their own which will offer similar services found in Word today. Businesses need to understand their versions of Microsoft are still usable and the leading word processing software isn’t planning to go anywhere. Have you tried Microsoft Office 2010 Beta yet?  FABULOUS!

A hidden cost of medical care is in the lack of communication between care providers.  This can result in duplication of tests and unnecessary fragmentation of the patients care.  EMRs solve these and more issues confronting health care today. In some cases the patient received treatment or even hospitalization without the knowledge or involvement of the primary care provider or the support team.  Even patients who are referred to a specialist by the primary care provider often return to the primary’s office without results or documentation of the outcome of the visit to a specialist. Communication is, of course, a two-way street and patients need to take the initiative to ask for their records when seeing a specialist.  Never assume that this is happening.  In addition, patients should review their own records annually to be certain everything there is up to date, inclusive, and accurate. The Government is emphasizing EMR systems as a means to end these problems and create communication between care providers at the speed of light.  While it will take time for EMRs to be pervasive, the first milestone is upon us.  Medical practices can qualify for up to $44,000 per physician in government funding to adopt EMRs.  The condition is that an approved system must be installed in 2010 and in substantial use by the practitioners.  Failure to meet these criteria will reduce the care provider’s compensation by $18,000 per provider in the practice and it continues to reduce each successive year. Care providers need to start now to select and implement their EMRs with the help of a skilled, experienced, and local computer service provider.  This need not cost huge amounts of investment nor change your practice, if it is selected and implemented in a professional manner.  Practices do not need to change their care processes or flow.  With a simple and direct five stage approach, care providers can have the technology enabling their work to improve patient encounters and make their life much better…AND, the government will pay for it.  Why wait? Patients need to be alert to care providers using paper charts and ask the care provider when they plan to have an EMR in place.  Everyone benefits and the cost of waiting or doing nothing is too great. Additional information is available by clicking here:  http://www.beckitsystems.com/medical_er.php